FEMW

I dont know this vlogger but I can understand why he does lower his mask to talk. I am deaf and totally reliant on lipreading so this Covid-mask-wearing is a bloody nightmare for me. I'm sure you'll all be tut-tutting, next time on a flight, when my husband lowers his mask to speak to me so I can understand what is being said.

So before rushing to judge.....take a moment and think how lucky you are ...

Klrduks

FEMW, I agree this is a big issue with the hearing impaired. I have seen masks with clear inserts but the vast majority of us will probably not wear them. However, I doubt this vlogger is dropping his mask as an altruistic gesture for the hearing impaired. :-)

DYKWIA

I'm pretty mutton in one ear, and I didn't realise just how much I relied on lip-reading until everybody started wearing masks - even though my other ear is pretty good.

bulkhead

If he’s talking to the camera and worried about hearing impaired viewers not being able to lip read perhaps he might take the trouble to add subtitles instead?

Jambon87

I think it’s a bit reactionary to assume that because Noel’s videos are uploaded weekly, he is not adhering to quarantine rules.

I am no blogger, but generally they will shoot several videos worth of content in a few weeks/days, especially when it comes to flights. So with out context of the timeline of when these videos were shot, it’s a little bit presumptuous to assume he isn’t following guidance, however if he hasn’t, then that’s a matter that needs addressed.

Jambon87

I also find it a bit jarring, people on this forum are proclaiming “essential travel only” when in the same forum they are posting their covid experiences travelling around the world on holiday.

Maybe just me that finds it a teensy bit hypocritical?

KARFA

I don't think anyone has said "essential travel only", basically because at least in England that went on 1 June. Has someone on FT been posting about travelling around the world before that date?

The two questions as I understand it are

Did he travel between 26 March and 1 June when there was a limitation on leaving your home? There were some exceptions of course which did allow you to do so. Between 1 June and 4 July you were allowed to leave home for any reason, but you were not supposed to stay elsewhere overnight without a reasonable excuse.

Is he failing to follow self isolation rules on return from non-exempt countries? Acknowledging that leaving the country to start another trip before the end of 14 days has always been allowed.

1Aturnleft

When one video is titled "I spent 48 hours on the cheapest airline in Europe" and shows footage of 6 completely unnecessary segments flying on Wizz that were filmed (going by the Lisbon security kerfuffle) at the beginning of September this year. It leaves little to the imagination that the flights were completely unnecessary and that the bloke is just in it for the Youtube subscribers. Let's hope he did the right things and followed the self isolation rules upon return to the UK - he was panting his way about Romania, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands and Poland for 2 days. with that thing either falling off his face or removed altogether.
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Jambon87

Unless I missed it, this was government advice not to travel, not law. However from what I gather, the comments are based on his travel to date , not before June 1st.

If he has broken quaratine rules, then he needs to speak from himself, otherwise speculating on a forum is just that, speculation.

KARFA

With all due respect there has not been a requirement in September that your travel should be necessary. If your personal preference is not to take what you decide is unnecessary travel for you then that is your choice and I respect that. I don't respect anyone trying to impose their choice on others though.

Jambon87

I did watch that video, and I am not defending 48 hours on Wizz (who would) my point is that with videos on you tube, there is absolutely no context to the sequence of events pre/during/post video. So it’s all just speculation, as to what he did when the camera stopped rolling.

KARFA

You can't travel without leaving home. As noted prior to 1 June you could not leave home without a reasonable excuse.

I am not trying to answer the questions btw, just trying to summarise what I understand they are.

Jambon87

I don’t want to get bogged down in minutia of law, but under the pre June 1st guidelines. Travelling for work purposes was applicable under guidelines.

So if he did travel and he claimed it was for work purposes, then it doesn’t go against the guidelines, it does break the spirit of them.

KARFA

If between 26 March and 1 June he travelled for the purposes of work where it was not reasonably possible for him to work from the place where he lived, then that was not in breach of the the law.

Jambon87

this I agree on, if this is the main source of his employment, it’s not against the guidelines, but in those times, it certainly goes against the spirit of unnecessary travel.